People enjoy taking their dogs along with them in their cars, and sometimes need to do so regardless of whether they enjoy it or not. Anyone who has owned a dog knows how much dogs loves to go for rides in the car, and how difficult it can sometimes be to restrain a dog from leaping into a car while trying to clear adequate space. As much as owners and pets alike enjoy these rides, certain issues may arise when dogs sit in the same seats that will later be used by people. A non-exhaustive list of these issues includes:                1) Dog hair on the seats and floor        2) Water and mud on seats if it has been raining/snowing and/or the dog has somehow gotten wet        3) Wear and tear of seats from a dog's hard nails and from the dog moving about        4) Slobber and other fluids soiling the seats        5) Dogs distracting drivers by going in front seat        6) Dogs getting injured or alarmed from slipping off of a vehicle's seat and onto the floor when the vehicle brakes        
In the past, seat covers, towels and blankets have been employed to address some of these issues, but these solutions may have their own problems, making them less than ideal solutions for dogs traveling in cars. For example, towels and blankets aren't always reliable protectors since they can easily come off the seat when a dog moves around. Seat covers may be difficult to install and remove, and thus they may be installed and left in place. People wearing clean clothes won't likely want to sit on soiled, smelly, and/or fur-ridden covers. Neither traditional seat covers nor towels inhibit dogs from jumping in the front seat and possibly distracting the driver, nor does either prevent a dog from falling on the floor when braking.
Some previous rear seat covers required that the cover slip over the corners and across the top of the seat back. This may no longer be as feasible as it once was, since many vehicles now have headrests and shoulder straps that prevent the cover from being draped over and down the top and corners. This added complexity may make seat covers even more difficult to put on and take off when they are designed to accommodate the additional headrest and shoulder strap features of vehicle seats.
More recently, a variation of the seat cover has been used that forms a hammock-like structure when installed. This device addresses many of the problems of having a dog ride in a car and helps prevent the dog from going in the front seat. These “hammock” systems, however, have several potential problems. For example, the hammocks can slide around on the seat cushion, they can sag in the gap between the front and rear seats, and humans often cannot ride in the back with the dog when the hammocks are installed since the portion that extends up the back of the front seats prevents humans from hanging their legs down. While there are some hammocks that have split front portions to allow humans to ride in back with a dog, these may separate at the top of the split when in the zipped up position, allowing the split to inadvertently open. Gravity over time or a dog applying pressure to the top of the split are several examples of how this can occur.
One attempt at solving the problem of having the hammock not securely fastened to the back seat include straps which are sewn to the non-facing (bottom) side of the hammock. These straps are threaded through hard plastic tubes, but the tubes may be difficult to insert in the seam between the seat back and bottom, since the user needs to reach behind the hammock to access the tubes. Also, if there is not enough slack in the straps, the tubes may be difficult to insert while simultaneously keeping the main portion of the hammock in place. Since the user must reach underneath/behind the hammock to install the tubes, it may be desirable to place the tubes into position first. If this is done first, however, the tubes can pop out when the user pulls the upper portion of the hammock up and over the top of the seat back to connect to the headrests mounted on the top of the seat back.
Additionally, the hammocks often get dirty, and it may be desirable to wash the hammock. When the hard plastic tubes are permanently installed, the drums inside of automated washers and dryers can be damaged when the hammock is placed in them for cleaning and drying. The damage may occur when the permanently attached tubes bang up against the drums inside of these machines as the drums rotate at high speeds.
Further, since the tubes are permanently attached to one side of the cover and can likely only function properly when used on that side, it is difficult to make reversible covers, which allow for features such as different colors, different materials, etc. on opposing sides.
The exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementations provide a comprehensive solution to address the problems associated with animals traveling in vehicles. Exemplary features of the illustrative implementations accomplish at least the following:                1. Protect the vehicle's seats        2. Stay in place once installed        3. No moving forward and thus sagging into the gap between front and rear seats        4. Easy to install and remove        5. Inhibit a dog from going in the front seat        6. Prevent a dog from falling on the vehicle's floor when the vehicle brakes        7. Allow humans to ride along with a dog in the rear seat when installed        8. Can be machine washed and dried without damaging the washer or dryer        9. Accommodate multiple headrests/shoulder straps/seat belt buckles        10. Are reversible        
The exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementations protect the rear seat in a vehicle by draping down over the seat back portion of the seat, across the seat cushion, and up the back of the front seats. The exemplary illustrative non-limiting implementations thus forms comfortable hammock style seat covers.